Dragon's Breath, part One in a Trilogy
by Punch A Fish In The Face
Summary: Taang/Zutara. Iroh develops Lavabending, useable by both Earth and Firebenders. Aang, Toph, and several dozen from around the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation are sent to learn from the Dragon of the West. However, old enemies are encountered, revenge by them is sought, and Aang and Toph may not make it out alive. Also, assassins are after Zuko and Katara at home. Dark & Mature themes


A/N  
>I heard some disturbing news regarding a friend of mine, which inspired me to redo this.<br>So, rated T. There's still adult and dark themes, in fact even more so than I had originally planned, like attempted rape and murder. But I have made some changes for the better. For example, the story is getting majorly revamped. And I'll start the Taang earlier by using flashback format. I don't have much else to say, other than please R&R. I want to see if this rendition is any better, because that means I'm getting better with my writing skills.  
>So here goes.<br>End A/N

X 3rd Person X

A teacup is sitting on a table. Hands pick up the kettle and pour the juice into the cup. It was a jasmine, with a few other flavors carefully chosen for a perfect blend. They were…

A secret. Iroh never told anyone what the secret ingredients were. Except for one, which was 'love', as he put it.

Iroh opened the window further, and pushed the drapes to the side. He sipped from his tea. The sun was just beginning to rise, and Iroh felt its warmth, and the power within him that came with the ball of fire.

He could also sense that half of the kids in the cabins on the ground could feel it, too. Seeing as Iroh's room was on the second floor, he could see all aross the camp. He could see the lake straight in front, and the volcano past it. The dock sat innocently unaware of what nearly transpired on top of it the previous night.

The water sat still, no signs of the body in its depths. But Iroh could tell that something was wrong with the picture. He sipped his tea. No, that wasn't what was off. He put his free hand on his chin, and he thought about why he felt there was something weird.

To the left sat the boy's cabins. The ones closer to him held Firebenders, and the further one held Earhtbenders. To the left sat the girl's cabins, in the same positioning Bending-wise. Every child and teen who came to this camp was inside their cabin: except for two.

Three, technically, but Iroh didn't know that. Only one person did… and they were directly responsible for that.

X The floor below Iroh X

The two bodies laid entangled, breathing in unison. The boy was stirring; he was about to wake up. He opened his grey eyes, and blinked once. He looked down at the girl in his arms. Her long black hair was unkempt, and went all over the bed. He brushed his fingers through it, attempting to straighten it out.

I can't believe I'd lose control like that…

The Firebender in him, more pronounced than his other past lives, could sense that the sun was rising. Roku was his direct incarnation, which explained the extra power of his first firebending. Aang found that he was now fully awake, and still stroking the girl's hair.

He stopped.

He deserved what I did to him, but still…

The look of fear in the older teen's face flashed through the Airbender's mind. He remembered vividly the events from the night before. He could remember his tattoos glowing white as he tackled the boy.

He could remember his Avatar State-induced trance, and the one thought coursing through his veins, through his mind: Vengeance. He shuddered at this memory, and tried desperately to fight off the images sifting through his mind's eye.

He sat up in the bed, and Toph began to stir. Aang put his head in his hands as the memories still flooded in. He remembered his left arm holding the kid down, while watching his arm hit into the teen's face one, two, three times. Teen. What a funny word. The 'kid' was nineteen, and was over seven years older than her.

The glowing arm raised up one more time as if to hit again, put it paused. The boy- no, man's- hand reached above him towards a knife. Aang remembered seeing the reflection of himself in the eyes. He could remember not recognizing what was in the reflection.

He remembered his hand closing around the potential rapist's neck, and lifting up. He remembered the feeling of the muscles constricting, struggling to breathe, of his legs kicking the empty air below him.

He remembered the moment of indecision. This man, fresh into adulthood, had attempted a terrible, horrible crime. He had no thoughts of his own: he belonged in an institution, much like the one Azula was in. But Aang couldn't remember the catalyst that made his decision.

Then he felt the girl behind him moving her arm around the general area where he was sleeping. She groaned, and her movements became frantic.

He remembered then, what happened next. He looked down at the girl, paying no attention to the last attempts to escape his iron grip, to no avail. He saw his former Earthbending teacher, who wasn't afraid of anything, who didn't show weakness, and definitely was not one to be a victim, curled into a ball.

And he remembered who was responsible.

Aang's tattoos glowed brighter, and his grip tightened. He placed his free hand on the mercenary's forehead, and dark, nearly violet light flowed from his eye to aang's hand, up his arm, and into his shoulder. He felt the man's body go limp; well, only his arms and legs. He was still breathing. For now.

Aang remembered stepping forward, and dropping the body into the lake. There were ripples, then bubbles, then… nothing. The body never resurfaced.

The blind girl began breathing heavily, and more quickly, and began to hyperventilate, until Aang grabbed her hand in his and laid back down by her.

"Shh… I'm right here…" he said. She immediately started to calm down.

'Sorry… I can't see up here, so-'

"You don't need to explain." She scooted closer to him. In the year since the war, Aang grew nearly a foot taller. He was taller than Zuko now. But Toph stayed about the same height. She was still the short girl from Team Avatar's travels.

She buried her head in his chest, and he started to stroke her hair again.

What do I tell Katara?

X The Fire Nation Royal Infirmary X

Zuko stirred. The sun was rising, which meant he was waking up. Which meant he reached over to his side table for his herbal medicine and tea. Which meant leaning up, which would be painful.

The grunt of pain, followed by his body leaning over her, woke Katara up. She realized she had fallen asleep, and sat up quickly.

Unfortunately, she'd hit right into Zuko's reopened chest wound. The grunt of pain became a short scream, and now they were both awake.

'Gah! You don't need to yell, Zuko!'

"You don't need to- ow- hit me!" he put his hand on his bandages, and pulled his hand away. It was red. "Um… a little help?"

Katara threw the covers down, and jumped out of the bed. She grabbed the waterskin on the table, opened it, and pulled out her water. She pooled it around one hand while she helped remove the blody bandages with the other.

'Ooh, that looks bad. I'm sorry for-'

"Please don't apologize and just fix it!"

She put her hands together, and pulled them away with equal portions of water on each hand. She put them on Zuko's lightning-and-knife wound, and the water began to glow.

Skin stitched back together befor her eyes, and the delicate barely-formed soft tissue under it tried to knit itself back together. Unfortunately, the tissue was set back by a few days because of what happened the night before.

When Katara felt she could do no more, she put the water back into the skin and put the stopper back in.

'You okay now?'

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks, Kat." A beat of silence passed. "Tara?" She giggled. "What?"

'Nothing, it's just, you've never called me that before.'

"I never had to, because we were never… You know… But now that we are, I- Oh no."

Her breath hitched, and she turned around. 'What, is someone coming? I need to-'

"No…" Zuko cut her off. "I forgot about Aang!"

She stopped panicking and turned back to Zuko. She put her legs back under the covers, pulling them up as she did so. Her legs were cold.

'So did I…'

Zuko rested his hand on hers. "I'm sorry about last night. I was delirious from the cactus juice, and I shouldn't have put you in this position-"

She put his finger on his lips. 'No, I should be sorry… Do you think he'll understand?'

"What, that his girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend? I doubt it."

She pulled her arms over her chest. She felt cold; guilt did that to her.

'How should I tell him? Should I send a letter or- Oh no.'

Zuko looked up at her questioningly.

'Oh no, I can't believe this!' She put her hands on her forehead and nodded back and forth. 'I didn't write him back at all!'

X …? X

'Go, you're free.'

I nodded my head, and turned around. I'm so excited: I can finally leave the Yu Yan! Now I can go look for Jet and Smellerbee, and not fear the wrath of this girl. Azula. She's… scary…

But I'd never tell her that.

X Toph X

'You don't need to explain.'

I scooted closer to him, and he started running his fingers through my hair. It isn't an unpleasant sensation. Before we came here, if he did anything like this with me, I'd earthbend him off of a cliff. But now…

Now…

No…

I can't feel this way! He saved me last night, that's it! I was in trouble

_I… can't… fight him off!_

and he helped me. That's it. He's my friend, he's the Avatar, and he's with Katara! I can't do this to either of them…

_No… NO! I can't call for help!_

I'll ruin things with Zuko, and Sokka, and Mai, and Suki, and the whole world! I'll have to go with my parents, or alone…

_Why is this happening?_

If it was anyone else, I'm sure I wouldn't be feeling like this. I don't want to hurt any of them…

_Please, someone!_

I should see this as a positive. He didn't actually do anything to me, because Aang came here in time… Focus, you never call him that, he'll know something's up!

_Anyone…_

Just play it cool. Shrug it off. You've done it plenty of times with Sokka. At that Fire Nation dance… With Piandao… on the Airships…

_Please…_

What's that noise? Twinkles?

_I felt the hands holding me down let go, and lift off of me. I couldn't see anything, but I could feel the presence of the energy. I've never felt him give this much off…_

Why does all this bad stuff have to be piled on me at once?

A/N

Toph is slightly OOC this chapter, but they're her reaction to attempted rape and her inner thoughts. You'll see more of how she controls her thoughts and actions when I get caught up to present day in the chapters.

Next chapter I go to the beginning of the story. People who read my original Lava Benders will know bits of the general plotline, but not all of it.

The mystery POV is Longshot. This obviously going to modify canon slightly, but not by that much really. It's just a conspiracy theory!

I'm going to publish now while I can. But the next thing I'll do a chapter for is republic Origins, unless I get enough reviews for this one. So… Please R&R?

End A/N


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